Grandfather (22 page)

Marley and I went
silent.

“
There’s no point it
arguing,” Ashton said. “What’s done is done. We just need a
plan.”

“Really, Ashton,” Marley
said. “I can’t see anything. We’re behind bars. There is no
possible plan.”

He didn’t say anything,
knowing she was right. Marley was actually right about another
thing; I shouldn’t have come in the first place. This was my entire
fault. Belladonna and Edgar had warned me not to do anything
stupid, and that’s exactly what I did. I shouldn’t have let
curiosity get the best of me. But I was so desperate about finding
out about my parents that I hadn’t cared about the dangers. I still
didn’t even know if it was the truth or not. Within a week,
Cornelius would have me open whatever his inheritance was. I didn’t
know what was inside, but I knew it was bad news. If it belonged to
the original Grand Imperial, there was nothing good about
it.

Ashton was right, we
needed a plan. But Marley was right, too. There was no plan that
could get us out from behind those bars.

“We’ll figure it out in
the morning,” Ashton said. “Let’s get some rest to calm us down.
We’ll figure it out later.”

Chapter Ten

T
he sound of somebody unlocking the door woke me up. Complete
darkness and no windows made it difficult to tell what time of day
it was. The door opened and the lights flicked on. I squinted my
eyes. When they adjusted, I saw three officers, each with a gun
strapped over a shoulder, carrying a tray with a glass of water and
a sandwich on it.

One came to my cell while
the other two went to Marley’s and Ashton’s. They sat the food down
beside the metal bars. I didn’t move at first. “Probably be one of
your last meals,” one of the officers said. “Better eat
it.”

He was probably
right.

They left, leaving us in
darkness again. I crawled on the floor until I reached the bars. I
stuck my arms out between the gaps and felt for my sandwich. I
could hear Ashton and Marley do the same. We ate in
silence.

“
He thinks this food is a
punishment,” I said after the sandwich and water was gone. “Little
does he know that this is what we’re used to eating.”

Joke was on him, right?
Ha, yeah right. We were still prisoners.

“
Yeah,” Ashton said. “I’m
still hungry, though,”

I didn’t count on
Cornelius having more food brought to us. I thought about going
back to sleep, but I knew there would be no way I could fall asleep
again. So, I wondered when Cornelius would come and ask me more
questions. It had to be soon. Unless he wanted to make me wait,
build up my anxiety.

It was working.

I thought of Ashton and
Marley. I really hoped he wouldn’t touch them. He would demand
Belladonna’s and Edgar’s location soon. Would I give them away to
protect Ashton and Marley? I honestly didn’t know the answer to
that. If I didn’t tell Cornelius, he probably wouldn’t hesitate to
harm them. If I did tell him, he would probably kill everybody
under the mountain and all hope in exposing Grandfather would be
gone. Sure, I could give him a false location, but he would find
out eventually that it was a lie. He would come back and probably
have Ashton and Marley killed. There was no win in this
situation.

“
He’s going to ask you guys
where we’ve been hiding,” I said.

“
I’d let them kill me
before I told them,” Ashton said with confidence. “Because that’s
our only hope to take Grandfather down.”

“
Yeah,” Marley agreed. “I’m
not going to let them hurt Momma or any of them.”

Marley, however, didn’t
seem too confident. That just made me even more scared.

“
He may be listening right
now,” I told Ashton and Marley. “Like he did with me and Ashton.
Don’t let anything slip.”

They agreed.

The fact that Cornelius
was probably spying on us made it difficult to come up with a plan
aloud. But we tried anyways. It was no use. We thought about doing
something that would force the officers to let at least one of us
out, but we had nothing to defend ourselves with. They had guns. It
wasn’t worth the risk. We soon gave up on it and just lied there. I
drifted off to sleep a couple of times but had no way to tell how
long I was out. None of us had a clue what time of day it
was.

My stomach started
growling, echoing in the tiny cell. Sometimes, I could hear
Ashton’s and Marley’s doing the same. Good never came. At least not
for a while. We had completely lost track of time, so I don’t know
when it was. But just as I was beginning to feel sick, three
different officers brought us another sandwich with water. We ate
it quickly.

“
They would have found out
we’re gone by now,” Marley said. “Momma’s probably
angry.”

I hadn’t even thought
about that. I tried imagining what Edgar and Belladonna were doing.
It was easy to picture Edgar angry. Belladonna would be more upset
than anything. She’d be scared. Would they come looking for us?
They would know where I went as soon as I showed up missing. And
Ashton and Marley? Well, they would know they went with me. But
they probably weren’t looking for us. Yeah, they would want to. But
it would be impossible for them to break in and rescue us. They’d
be caught in no time. Cornelius would have them killed. There would
be nobody to lead the people underground. Everybody would just have
to be patient. It wouldn’t be so easy for them.

I thought of Mae. That
part hurt to think about. Marley was her family, and she was in
trouble because of me.

“
I just want to get out of
here,” Marley said.

“We will,” Ashton
promised. “Patience.”

Patience was something
that kept coming up. I didn’t have that virtue. That combined with
my curiosity seemed to get me in trouble. I think my situation
behind those bars was proof.

We actually didn’t have to
wait much longer before something new happened. The door opened,
the lights came on, and a man in a perfect black suit walked
in.

Yeah, it was
Cornelius.

Already, his nostrils
flared and his eye twitched. I hadn’t even said anything to him
yet.

An officer followed
Cornelius inside.

“
Let him out,” Cornelius
demanded. The officer quickly opened my cell.

“I’m not going,” I told
him, staying against the wall.

Cornelius was not having
it. “Grab him!” he ordered, clenching his fist. “But don’t put any
marks on him. I need him to look unharmed.”

The guard went to grab my
arm. I didn’t resist, even though I wanted to. Ashton and Marley
stood against the bars with worried looks.

“
Where you taking him?”
Ashton demanded to know.

Cornelius ignored him as
he walked toward the door.

“
Don’t tell them anything,”
Ashton said before I left the room. The officer turned the lights
off and locked the door.

It was time. Cornelius was
ready to ask me questions, and I wasn’t prepared. Would I keep our
hiding spot a secret even if it meant putting Marley’s and Ashton’s
safety in jeopardy?

I just didn’t think I
could do it.

I said nothing while
Cornelius led me to the front desk where the same lady sat. Another
woman stood nearby, waiting. “This is him?” she asked Cornelius
when she saw us.

Who was this woman? She
wore tons of makeup. And I mean way too much. Her face was way too
pink and blue. She wore a light blue dress. All her jewelry was the
same color as the dress and sparkled in the light.

“Yeah,” Cornelius
growled.

Man, he was not
happy.

“
Let me talk to him
first.”

She nodded.

He led me back into his
office. Everything was the same. Except the TV wasn’t on. “Sit,” he
demanded, pointing at a chair.

I did so, glancing out the
window. It was twilight. We had been in the cell for nearly a day.
I think. Maybe it was two days. I don’t know.

He walked next to his
chair and kicked it over. What was it with him and kicking things?
“It seems as if plans have changed,” he said. “Word got out that
you came to me, and now everybody wants to see the poor kidnapped
boy. Had to be the receptionists downstairs.” He shook his head
fiercely before slamming a hand against his desk. “I knew I
shouldn’t have trusted them!”

I didn’t say
anything.

“People are dying to see
and hear from you. I’ve had no choice.” He looked at the ceiling
before his eyes met mine. “You’ll be interviewed on live
television.”

“Um, what?” I asked,
wondering if I had heard right.

I could hear Cornelius
grinding his teeth. “I couldn’t say no. You’re going to be
interviewed.”

“
To say what!” I
yelled.

“To say exactly what I
tell you to say,” Cornelius snapped. “I’ll have all the guidelines
written up and delivered to you . . . and you
will
follow them!”

Cornelius had no intention
on getting our secret location out of me. Plans had definitely
changed. And I didn’t think I could do it. Live TV? In front of the
entire nation?

Then, a thought hit me.
The entire nation would be watching. People would be listening. I
knew Edgar and Belladonna would have everybody gather in the dining
hall to listen to it.

Cornelius walked up behind
me. His hands squeezed my shoulders so hard that pain shot down
both my arms. “I know what you’re thinking,” said. “And if you
reveal anything about me and Grandfather, your friends will be
tortured and killed. So don’t get any ideas. The only opportunity
this is for you is to keep alive a bit longer.”

Great. There goes that
prospect. I was trapped . . . again.

“
I
won’t,” I said.

He let go of my shoulders.
“Good,” he said. “The interview is tomorrow.”

What!? Did he expect me to
prepare in a day?

He walked to the door and
opened it. “Take him to one of the suites,”

The woman with too much
makeup appeared in the doorway, smiling. She gestured for me to
follow.

“
Where am I going?” I
asked, standing up slowly.

Cornelius grabbed my
shoulder and shoved me toward the door. “Enjoy being one of us
while you can,” he told me. “You won’t get to live in this kind of
luxury for very long.”

“
I’ll never be one of you,”
I said as Cornelius let go of my shoulder.

He ignored me and slammed
the door shut. I heard a loud bang come from inside the
office.

“
Let’s go,” the woman
demanded, ignoring whatever it was Cornelius was doing inside.
Probably throwing everything.

She led me to the elevator
where she hit the down button. “The Grand Imperial wants me to make
sure you’re cleaned up and ready for tomorrow. He’ll be by later to
go over more details.” The elevator door opened. We stepped
in.

I admired the city again
through the elevator glass wall. The sunset in the distance
reflected off the other skyscrapers. The elevator stopped just one
floor below.

I guess people didn’t
really use stairs.

We stepped out. Not saying
a word, the woman led me down a hall until we reached two double
doors at the end.

“Like the Grand Imperial
said,” she said. “Enjoy it while you can.” She opened the doors,
allowing me to go in first. “You won’t be here for very
long.”

She took the door handles
and swung both doors open.

I don’t know who is
reading my story, but I realize I seem like I’m amazed by
everything. And you’re right. I was seeing things I thought I’d
never see in a million years. This time was no
different.

I found myself in a large
living area. I mean it was huge. The floor was made out of a dark
and shiny hardwood. There were tables and shelves against the wall.
Tons of pictures covered the maroon colored walls. Again, most of
them depicted people I had never seen before.

Directly in the middle of
the room, sitting on a fluffy white rug was a large black leather
couch that sat in an ‘n’ shape. Or maybe it was a ‘u’ and I was
looking at it backwards. A glass coffee table sat in the space the
sofa created. On the table was a small black box. It was just a few
inches on each side.

On one end of the room,
there was a long white dining table, abled to seat up to eight. It
held a few plants and unlit candles. The light coming from the
chandeliers reflected off the surface. I wondered if somebody
cleaned the room every day, even if somebody wasn’t staying in it.
It sure did look like it.

Two doors were on the
other end of the room. The woman told me that one was the bathroom
and the other was the bedroom.

What caught my attention
the most was the entire back wall. It was pure glass, revealing
half the city, the tall wall, and the lake resting beyond it. Two
glass sliding doors led to a large balcony outside. On the balcony
was a small tub filled with water. I had never seen one before, but
I knew it was too small to be a pool. Chairs and tables with
umbrellas covering them sat directly in the middle.